From Label to Liable: Scams, Scandals and Secrecy - Voiceless

INTRODUCING TRUTH IN LABELLING – KEY POINTS
• In order to make informed decisions, consumers need information about the production systems
from which animal-derived food products are sourced.
• If a product label is ‘silent’ as to its farm production method, there is a strong likelihood that it
has been sourced from a factory farmed animal.
• There are a number of terms currently used to differentiate the source of animal products. These
include caged/battery eggs, barn laid eggs, free range, open range or range eggs, grain fed beef,
free-range, bred free-range, organic and biodynamic.
• Most of these commonly accepted terms are not defined in legislation, which means there is
broad scope for consumer uncertainty as to their true meaning.
• Different production systems impose varying degrees of suffering on animals, ranging from factory
farming systems such as caged/battery eggs and grain fed beef which cause substantial physical and
psychological suffering, to organic systems which cause less suffering.
V. Trends towards the truth
a) As discussed in Chapter 2 (above), in recent
times consumers have become more concerned
about the food they purchase, with trends towards
ethical living on the rise. As a corollary of this,
consumers have begun asking more questions about
the origins of the food they are buying and the
associated production processes. 140
b) A range of Australian organisations and leading
meat industry bodies, including Australian Pork
Limited, have acknowledged the right of consumers
to have sufficient information to make proper
purchasing decisions. 141 However at the time of
writing, there is no legislation in Australia which
requires the labelling of production systems for
animal-derived food products such as meat, poultry
and dairy products. 142
c) Consumers use product labels to determine
product choice while shopping and to learn more
about food, including how a product has been
produced. 143 For the average consumer, humanely
produced products cannot be easily distinguished
from factory farmed products without an effective
label. In fact, some product attributes may ‘remain
unknown to consumers upon inspection and even
after consumption’. 144 This highlights the need for
honest and clear production system information to
be provided before the point of sale.
d) In response to growing calls for ‘truth in labelling’,
certain kinds of mandatory food product labelling
have come into effect in recent years. For example:
i) In 2001, the labelling of genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) became mandatory; 145 and
ii) In 2005, Country of Origin standards for
labelling were introduced, to enable consumers to
identify Australian-made products. 146
e) GMO and Country of Origin labelling have
received strong support from the community
140 Agriculture and Food Policy Reference Group, Ensuring a Profitable and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Sector in Australia, 5
.
141 Other organisations that have supported labelling of animal products include Animals Australia. See: Australian Pork Limited, Submission 4 to
Productivity Commission, 2.6.7 ; Animals Australia, Submission to The Agriculture and Food Policy Reference Group, 2005, 7
.
142 Limited legislative mechanisms are in place in some jurisdictions for the labelling of eggs. See: Egg (Labelling and Sale) Act 2001 (ACT) s 5; Egg Industry
Act 2002 (Tas) ss 8, 19.Food Policy Reference Group, 2005, 7 .
143 Donna Paterson, Rhonda Zapelli and Anna Chalmers (NFO Donovan Research), Australian New Zealand Food Authority, Qualitative Research with
Consumers - Food Labelling Issues, 2001, 11 .
144 Hui-Shung (Christie) Chang, Agribusiness Perspectives Papers 2005 – Labelling Issues of Organic and GM Foods in Australia (Paper 67, 2005), 7
.
145 Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, Standard 1.5.2, (commenced December 2001).
146 Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, Standard 1.2.11; Trade Practices Amendment (Country of Origin Representations) Act 1998 (Cth). Country of Origin
standards have been incorporated in state and territory legislation through the adoption of the Food Standards Code. See below n158. See also Commerce
(Trade Descriptions) Act 1905 (Cth) s 7; Commerce (Imports) Regulations 1940 (Cth) reg 8 for Country of Origin standards for imports.
From Label to Liable Lifting the veil on animal-derived food product labelling in Australia 17